With a taste of the NCAA Championship Tournament still resting on many of their tongues, the members of the Chico State men’s soccer program understands just how important this weekend’s games at Seattle Pacific and Western Washington are. After all, home wins against each of those teams during the first week of last September helped to vault them into the postseason.

Because they are the only two non-conference games of the season for Chico State, they could go a long way in helping the NCAA selection committee decide the Wildcats’ merits in comparison to other West Region teams. The Wildcats face Seattle Pacific in Thursday night’s 7:30 PM season opener and then take on Western Washington Saturday at 1:30 PM.

Nine starters, including First Team All-American Ferid Celosmanovic, All-West Region selection Chris Akwaja, and All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) pick Tyson Crim return from the team that advanced all the way to the NCAA Championship Tournament quarterfinals.

Celosmanovic finished with a team-high 13 goals. Akwaja added nine goals and Crim collected a team-best six assists. Head Coach Felipe Restrepo’s squad also features returning starters Mike Janjigian, Luke Palmer, Nick Tedrow, Evan Johnston, Jacob Darr, and goalkeeper Sam Evans and key reserves Elliott Plummer, James Stroud (who both started seven times last season), and Micah Miranda. Senior Ryan Struckmeyer also returns after missing all of last season with an injury. He started all 22 matches in 2009.

Akwaja tallied a goal and assisted on Mike Janjigian’s game-winning goal in the 88th minute of a 2-1 season opening victory versus Western Washington last September. Celosmanovic scored his first goal of the season in the 61st minute in a 1-0 win against Seattle Pacific later that week.

Seattle Pacific rebounded from a 0-4-2 start to end up 10-6-2 last fall and finished 7-2-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Falcons, picked to finish second in the GNAC in the preseason coaches’ poll, handed eventual conference champ and this year’s conference favorite Simon Fraser its lone conference loss.

Seattle Pacific has more returning letter winners (19), starters (11) and all-stars (8) than any other team in the conference, including its top three scorers: Tyler Schultz, GNAC Freshman of the Year Blaine Carver, and forward Elliot Morton. Schultz ranked third in the GNAC in scoring with 23 points (10 goals, 3 assists) to earn First Team All-Conference honors. Carver, who was a Second Team All-GNAC pick, notched eight goals, and Morton, who earned First Team All-League honors, tallied five goals and five assists.

Western Washington, picked to finish third in the GNAC, sustained perhaps the region’s biggest graduation loss as forward Gibson Bardsley accounted for 18 of the Vikings' 50 goals and assisted on seven others, finishing his career as the No. 2 scorer in GNAC history with 100 points.

The Vikings, however, do return six All-GNAC players including Honorable Mention All-American Kellan Brown. Brown was the conference's sixth-leading scorer last season with 20 points (7 goals, 6 assists).
Western's greatest strength might be in the midfield, led by Brown and Oscar Jimenez. Jimenez earned First Team All-GNAC honors last season when he scored four goals and had seven assists. In three seasons, he has accumulated 15 goals and 17 assists. The latter number ranks third in school history and is just five short of the Viking career mark.

Live stats for the match against Seattle Pacific will be available by clicking HERE. Live stats for the Western Washington match can be accessed by clicking HERE.